Tim Leffel’s Cheapest Destinations

Brits Gone Wild in Eastern Europe

This isn’t really news to anyone who has watched hordes of drunk Brits in the cities of Eastern Europe, but yesterday this made the front page of the Wall Street Journal: British Bridegrooms Bring Stag Revelry to Eastern Europe.

That’s a rather nice way of saying of saying it—”stag revelry.” When you get into the article itself though, all the sordid details come out. “Now officials in Eastern Europe, eager for new tourism revenue, are discovering the underbelly of British tourism.” Basically countries like Hungary, Poland, and Lithuania were all excited about wealthier Europeans coming to visit as new air connections opened up and they gained admission to the EU. Instead they got roving bands of club kids puking in the alleys and shouting down the narrow streets at 4 a.m. “In Estonia, ‘if we drink, we don’t make so much noise,’ notes Tallinn’s deputy mayor, Jaanus Mutli. He says he wishes tourists would stay longer and spend money on activities other than partying.

Yeah, good luck with that. As local British Ambassador for Estonia Nigel Haywood says, “says, “there is a lack of comprehension why some groups of Brits behave the way they do.” Yeah, like what’s up with all the cross-dressing?

It’s certainly good for local beer sales though. I especially love this marketing prowess: “In Hungary’s capital, British officials plan to provide bars with beer coasters carrying slogans such as: ‘You might find Budapest so intoxicating you forget where you’re staying.’ The coasters will contain blank spaces where drinkers are instructed to write down their hotel address.”

[photo from gizmodo]